Television has become so saturated with commercials that it is difficult
at times to tell the different images apart, much less remember or care
about them. But, on closer look, television commercials can tell us a
great deal about the interplay of market forces, contemporary culture,
and corporate politics. This book views contemporary ad culture as an
ever-accelerating war of meaning. The authors show how corporate symbols
or signs vie for attention-span and market share by appropriating and
quickly abandoning diverse elements of culture to differentiate products
that may be in themselves virtually indistinguishable. The resulting
sign wars are both a cause and a consequence of a media culture that is
cynical and jaded, but striving for authenticity.
Including more than 100 illustrations and numerous examples from recent
campaigns, this book provides a critical review of the culture of
advertising. It exposes the contradictions that stem from turning
culture into a commodity, and illuminates the impact of television
commercials on the way we see and understand the world around us.